How to bookmark folders via Add Shortcut to OneDrive feature

As you deal with literally hundreds and thousands of files in SharePoint sites, you might want to save or bookmark certain files and folders so that you can come back to them later. In one of my earlier videos, I explained the ability to pin documents. That feature allowed you to pin files and create pins on a given document library, and that pin was visible and accessible by others. In this post, I will explain how you can save your own bookmarks in SharePoint, and for that, we will use the recently released Add Shortcut to OneDrive feature.

How Add Shortcut to OneDrive feature works?

The way Add Shortcut to OneDrive works is that that you bookmark a given document library or folder, and then the shortcut shows up in your OneDrive for Business account.

What can you bookmark via Add Shortcut to OneDrive feature?

Unlike the pin feature, which allowed us to pin both files and folders, the only things you can bookmark via Add Shortcut to OneDrive feature are document libraries and folders. You cannot add shortcuts to the files themselves.

How to add bookmarks via Add Shortcut to OneDrive feature

To bookmark a folder

Check the box next to a folder you want to bookmark and click Add shortcut to OneDrive.

To bookmark an entire document library

Do not check the box next to any folder; instead, navigate to the root of the library and click Add shortcut to OneDrive option.

How to access shortcuts from your OneDrive

Once in your OneDrive, you will notice the folder you bookmarked appearing next to regular folders you have within your OneDrive. The ones that have been bookmarked from SharePoint, will have the link icon appearing over the folder icon.

Under the Sharing Column, it will show the “owner” of that folder – the name of a SharePoint site the folder was bookmarked from.

It is important to note that when you Add Shortcut to OneDrive, it does not copy the content to your OneDrive. It just creates a link (bookmark) to the source. So the content you see in your OneDrive, once you click on the shortcut, is pretty much embedded from the source (document library/folder).

How to remove bookmarks from your OneDrive

To remove the bookmark from your OneDrive, click the checkbox next to it (from your OneDrive) and choose Remove.

Add shortcut to OneDrive and Impact on OneDrive Sync

The best part of Add shortcut to OneDrive is that it also works great with OneDrive Sync. If you sync your OneDrive for Business to your computer via OneDrive Sync, the bookmarked folder will appear in your Windows Explorer as well, with a link icon overlayed on top of it. And all the files within that bookmarked folder will be synced to your computer as well.

And if you decide to press the delete button in your Windows Explorer, it will just remove the shortcut from OneDrive, just like covered in the step above. It will not delete the files from the source SharePoint site. You will get a warning with the same message in your OneDrive.